Allow me to paint you a picture.
It’s our first day of organized ministry in India and I get to wear new clothes!! This is an exciting day for any world racer but I feel extra fancy today. I spent a month in Cambodia living in a tent in a village followed by a month with lice and now I am lice free, hair done, and wearing new clothes! (It’s the little things, right?). Starting the day with such good odds shouldn’t leave room for anything but joy except I woke up grumpy.
I recently switched back to an all girls team and dreamed up the expectation that all girls teams get better ministries – lie. You see, the first half of my race I was on an all girls team and we had dream ministries and Satan was trying to convince me that while I was on a coed team I was missing out on better ministries than the all girls teams – another lie. All my ministry opportunities have been amazing and I know that I have always ended up exactly where God wants me but I found myself worrying about whether or not I will fall in love with future ministries (which is crazy because ministry is what you make of it and even the worst days can be filled with the best people).
So we are at morning devotional (Team Lionheart) and using our time to ask God questions; one of my most favorite things to do. Everyone asks for The Lord’s heart for the day and a word of identity and then whatever else we want to know from Him. I ask God why I’m grumpy and I ask Him if we’re going to have awesome ministries on this team. God, in His perfect, wise, and witty way responds, “Is how you’re serving more important than who you are serving?”
Just like that I’m put back on the path again. He’s good. I was worrying for nothing; who am I to decide what is “good ministry” or not? How could I let my pride get in the way of all the people God has for me to love and serve? My attitude is fixed for our day of ministry and I am back on board with my new clothes excitement. While we’re waiting to leave a part of our group runs down the street to grab some chai tea (we are in India after all) and the next thing I know our plan to visit an elderly home is replaced with a plan to go to manual labor and cleaning.
“What?! On a day that I feel girly and normal?”
We were headed to the house of a pastor that recently caught fire and needed cleaning from smoke damage. Pastor Binny runs a church in his home for people who live in the slums and gives free guitar and piano lessons. Pastor’s wife was uncomfortable with slum ministry and didn’t understand the calling that Pastor has and chose to abandon her family. Pastor and his two daughters were asleep when God shook him awake to see the fire in their living room.
Princey is the oldest of the two girls who has taken over many motherly responsibilities in their household. She is a fantastic cook and served us tea several times during our visit. She is 14 years old and the only Christian (besides her sister) in their Hindu school. Princey reads her class a story from the Bible every single day for three years now and although none of her classmates have accepted Jesus as their Savior they all believe in Him and pray to Him. Can you imagine being so on fire for God at age 14?
The youngest girl is Pinky; she is passionate, spunky, and full of joy. She helped us clean and took our pictures and made all seven of us leave our autographs. The girls collect money all year long to fill their plastic piggy bank to give gifts and school supplies to the slum children. They are going through so much themselves at such a young age and still carrying around God’s heart for others.
When Pastor went to pick the girls up at school our contact, Ravi, told us that while part of our group was getting chai tea this morning his sister called about Pastor and the house fire. Ravi hadn’t heard about the fire that happened weeks ago but said he had a team that could come immediately; our ministry for the day changed that quickly and that last minute. Pastor said he asked God to send someone to help him and we were who God chose to send – an answered prayer.
The girls walked in the door saying, “praise The Lord, praise The Lord!” Their father had told them visitors were at their house and they worried but he reassured his daughters that the visitors were angels. “It’s true, you really are angels,” they told us.
God told me again, “It’s not how you serve but who you serve.”
Before we left the house I had my seventh cup of tea for the day and Princey and Pinky gave each of us a necklace from their personal collection. They might have been praying for us to arrive but they were the angels I needed.
It’s not how you serve; it’s who you serve.
I am so glad I get to serve Jesus.
